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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Good morning, readers! I have a special post for you today!! I was in contact with the Born Pretty Store and asked to review their Dried Flowers for you all! Hopefully after this review you will love them as much as I do and want to try them out!

This is what will come when you order:

12 Different Dried Flowers in these cute reusable plastic containers! So much nicer than baggies!

6 different colors of smaller flowers. About 5-6 of each color.

6 different colors of bigger flowers. 2-3 of each color.

Now, let's see how they work!!

I picked a smaller green flower to put on my pinky nail. I suppose you could use tweezers to gently take them out but I was careful and dumped them onto my hand and picked one before dropping the rest back in.

Apply a clear coat so it is tacky. Place the flower on the tacky polish and press down on all sides.

Once it's stuck down, apply your thicker clear top coat. I did Poshe and didn't have any problems with it hurting the flower. I think I even ended up doing 2 coats once the first one dried so I was sure all of the edges were sealed.

I also wanted to try out a bigger flower for you. I chose this blue one to try on my thumb.

I did the same as with the smaller flower. Did a clear coat and stuck it down while it was still tacky. These were a little more difficult because there are so many steps and petals that need to be stuck down and I even went back with my clear polish and brush under a few that weren't sticking down.

Then, take little scissors or edge/cuticle clippers and carefully trim the excess from around your nails.

Then, again, use your thicker top coat to seal it all in. Poshe again, 2 coats.

And here are the 2 finished nails. Neat, right? I love how vibrant the colors are against this fuchsia polish!

Do you like this look? I do, and am so glad I got to try it out!

Born Pretty Store sells a ton of nail and beauty supplies at low prices! They ship from Hong Kong so it's about 2-3 weeks to deliver to the US, but well worth the wait for the price you pay as well as the quality.

The people at the Born Pretty Store were kind enough to give me a 5% off coupon code for all of you readers! Just use the code: JACJ61 to get your 5% off!

You can click this banner below(or on the sidebar where it will stay for easy access) to get to the Born Pretty Store and check out some of their awesome nail products! Plus, there is always free worldwide shipping! Can't beat that!!

Have any of you tried these, or other dried flowers before? How about anything else from the Born Pretty store? What are your thoughts? Thanks for reading!!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Good morning, everyone! I have this month's Julep Maven box to share with you today! I've heard lots of mixed reactions to the boxes this month but I LOVED mine. One of my favorite boxes so far! Granted, my box wasn't one of the ones with nail appliques, but I probably would have liked that as well. On to the box!

Helena is a gorgeous and bright fuchsia pink. It's a little more purple than my pictures are showing, but really pretty anyway! This was 2 coats.

I also used the quick dry top coat in these pictures! I like it, it's thinner so don't expect Poshe or Seche Vite, but it made the polish shiny and I was able to touch my nails once I painted all 10. I've heard it smears designs a bit, so I'll keep this one around for when I have solid colors. That is common with a thinner quick dry top coat anyway.

I love love love the pomegranate body creme! It smells really yummy, and my hands feel great after using it. I think it is my favorite hand lotion that Julep has sent me! Not the least bit greasy and absorbs very well into the skin within a couple of minutes. A+ from me!

I haven't had a chance to try the little pearls yet because I don't think the color goes well with this polish color so I'll get back to you on that in a later post.

All in all, as I said before, I love this box! What do you think of what I got? Did you get this box or a different one? I'd love to hear what you thought of your box this month!

Don't forget, with Julep Maven:
-You can request a new "shelf pull" if you don't like what colors they've picked for you
-You always get free shipping, as well as 20% off their site
-You can pause, cancel, or send to friend any month by the 25th
-Your box is shipped on the 26th(as well as your card charged for it)
-It's 19.99 a month for at least $40 worth of products
-You get $15 credit for each Maven you refer(keep track of who you refer in case Julep has another glitch)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Hello readers! I have more swatches for you today! This post will be all about the Denim Blues Collection Volume 2 box set I picked up recently. Seems that Ulta jumped on the blue jeans bandwagon that we've been seeing in more expensive brands. I love blues lately so I was glad to snag this up. Only $9.99 at Ulta! These were all 2 coat swatches.

First up we have Faded Blues:

shady shot

sunnier shot

I like this blue because I don't have many other light blues like this. Not sure how often I would use it, but it's pretty!

Next up we have Gray Couture:

shady shot

sunny shot

This is a metallic/frosty silver. I like it more in the sun but dislike the brush strokes that come with frosty polishes. Not sure how many people have silver jeans so I'm wondering why it's in this set, but I'll let it go.

On to my favorite of the bunch, Denim Glitz:

shady shot

sunny shot

This is my favorite! There is a slight purple duochrome at certain angles but it was too hard to capture for my pics. I love the shimmery flecks in this polish, as well as the bright color of it. Love love love.

On to my other favorite, Soho Skinny:

shady shot

sunny shot

Look at that hidden shimmer!! Such a gorgeous polish. Love it!!

And the last polish in this set, Rhinestone Rocker:

shady shot

sunny shot

This would be a great base color for a Galaxy mani! Black with different sparkles in it. Not totally unique, though, as Ulta also has this exact shade in their normal polish line called "Little Black Dress."

What do you think of this collection? I am continuously impressed with Ulta polishes lately! 2 coaters with great formulas! Yay, Ulta! Thanks for reading!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Good morning, readers! I have a fun post for you today! Remember my new Ulta polish sets I showed you in my haul post yesterday? This post will show you one of those sets: the Glitterati set. I got this set free with my $5 off coupon, but it is on sale for $4.99 now if you want to snag it at your local Ulta. I was impressed with all of them because they only needed 2 coats! At least 3 of these are very close to popular and pricey Deborah Lippmann polishes. Maybe you can help with with the 4th one and tell me if it's also a dupe?

Here we go:

This is a close up of the box set. They are not labeled individually but the box is labeled.

Note: these swatches are a little bumpy because I didn't use topcoat. :)

First up we have Ulta Hide and Go Sequins. This is a dupe to DL Bad Romance. I don't own any Deborah Lippmanns but I did already have the recent Revlon Facets of Fuchsia dupe!

Index and Ring finger have Ulta Hide and Go Sequins and Middle and Pinky nails are Revlon Facets of Fuchsia. The Ulta is only 2 coats while Revlon required 3.

Next up we have Fashionable Late. This is the only one that I'm unsure of any DL dupes. It looks to be similar to Today Was a Fairy Tale but more gunmetal colored and not silver.

This is only 2 coats. I love this! You can see the 2 different sized glitters in the darker base color.

Next up we have Black Tie Affair. This seems like a dupe for DL Ruby Red Slippers. I have the other RRS dupe: Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors from the On The Prowl Collection to compare for you.

Lastly, we have Glamoflauge. This seems like a dupe to Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe. That is the only DL I've ever had on my wishlist and I feel now that I can erase that and enjoy this little beauty. I don't have anything to compare for you, but you can see ATU swatches here from my friend Sarah at Chalkboard Nails.

Only 2 coats. Lovely isn't it? This is the polish that I bought the entire set for. I love love love it!

What do you think? Are you going to go get this set, or do you already have it? I was pleasantly surprised with this set and hope they decide to make them full sized! Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Hello readers!! Are you ready for my next Christmas mani design? Ashley from Ashley is Polish Addicted helped me decide what to do today and I love how it turned out! I got to use mostly new polishes I've received recently and I love them all! I got to try Savvy Femme Couture Ruby Slippers from my Let's Get Nailed giveaway win, and Rainbow Connection and Fresh Frog of Bel Air from my Secret Santa gift!

Here's my close up of the tree nail so you could see the glitter ornaments easier!

I used: Base Coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

2 Coats of Savvy FC Ruby Slippers

A makeup sponge and OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air sponged onto the tips in a gradient style.

Tree: Striper brush and Zoya Veruschka to make the tree.

Fresh Frog of Bel Air on top to add the green mini glitters.

OPI Rainbow Connection on the tree for the ornaments.

China Glaze Passion and a striper for the garland and star topper.

Top Coat of Poshe.

What are your thoughts? I love how this turned out! I enjoy these holiday manis and can't wait to think up the next one. Thanks for reading!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Good morning readers! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday if you celebrate it. We sure did! I've been busy since we got home and therefore am just now getting around to writing a new post for you all. Hope you didn't miss me too much ;)

Anyway, since it's finally December(yay!) I wanted to post my first holiday mani for you! It's not actually "Frosty the Snowman" but I thought it would make a cute title. This is just a generic snow man but I really love how he turned out!

I received China Glaze Snow Globe in a secret santa gift swap yesterday and instantly knew I wanted to do this kind of mani for you! The snowflakes didn't come out as cute as I'd hoped, but this mani was really all about the snowman anyway. :)

This is a shaded picture so you can see the true beauty of Snow Globe!

I used: Base Coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

2 Coats of China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le

1 Coat of China Glaze Snow Globe

Snowflakes: OPI Alpine Snow(such a fitting name!) and a striper brush/dotters for the snow flakes.

What are your thoughts? I plan on doing some tutorials on this design this weekend for you. I really love how this turned out and its putting me right into the Christmas Spirit--which I needed because we plan on getting our Christmas tree today and decorating it and the house this weekend. YAY! Thanks for reading!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Good morning, readers! I decided that I have really been ignoring my stamp set lately and decided to pull out my plates and use them again. I forgot how easy and nice stamped nails are! I love the uniformity of the design!

Tried to get a close up for you to see that the base really has that green shimmer in it!

I used: Base Coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

2 coats of Ulta Professional Green With Envy

Stamped with Color Club Perfect Mol-ten(from the Foiled collection)

Bundle Monster zebra stamp design on plate BM-223

Top Coat of Poshe.

What do you think? This was my first time stamping with one of the Foiled colors and it worked out very well! I like the sparkle texture compared to a smooth metallic color. I also really liked the base color because it almost looks black but its a different tone so it's not so harsh against my skin color. When you are out in the sun, you really see the green in it. Lovely.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Good morning everyone! After swatching my Julep polishes yesterday, I decided to leave on Michelle as a base color for the new Pure Ice Heart Breaker I picked up. It's a really pretty teal shimmer and you can't beat the $2 price tag at walmart! I can't wait to layer this on other base colors as well.

What do you think? I've seen Heart Breaker a few times on blogs lately so I knew I had to check it out when I was at Walmart. Thanks for reading!